JHS Sports

On a night that Jefferson had five touchdowns nullified due to penalties, the Dragons still set a school record for points scored in cruising to a homecoming-night win.
Eighth-ranked Jefferson beat East Jackson 70-0 Friday after leading 42-0 at halftime in the Region 8-AAA opener for both teams.
“It’s our first game in region play,” Jefferson coach Gene Cathcart said. “We’re 1-0 in the region. Half of the region will be undefeated (this week) and half the region will have a loss. Certainly, we’re not where we want to be yet in execution, but I feel like we made a step forward.”
The Dragons rolled up a season-high 533 yards rushing with Donshsa Gaither leading the way with 92 yards and a touchdown on four carries. Colby Clark added 90 yards on seven carries. He was 7-of-10 passing for 61 yards.
Jefferson scored three touchdowns in the first 7:14 of the game — before the Eagles netted their first first down — to jump out to a 21-0 lead, turning the game into a blowout quickly.
The Dragons got scores from McNally (five yards), Zac Corbin (11 yards) and Clark (24 yards) during that spurt as Jefferson took a three-touchdown lead into the second quarter. Paxton Corkery broke free for a 31-yard score early in the second quarter, followed by a 30-yard scamper from Corbin for his second touchdown of the night. Gaither increased the lead to 42-0 with a nine-yard touchdown run with just over two minutes left in the first half.
Jefferson’s subs took over in the second half.
Back-up quarterbacks Carter Stephenson (who finished with 81 yards on four carries) and Garrett Catanach both scored on five-yard runs in the third quarter, Nick Evans returned a punt for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and Hyson Porter scored on a 25-yard run as Jefferson was running the clock out to complete the record-setting scoring night.
“Guys when they got their opportunity certainly made a lot of plays,” Cathcart said of the back-ups. “I’m just very proud to see that. Our intensity level didn’t drop … It was good on homecoming to get all of those guys the opportunity to compete.”
Cathcart said some of his team's special teams infractions concerned him. Of Jefferson’s five touchdowns negated by penalties, two were punt returns for touchdowns by Zac Corbin.
“We’ll have to improve teaching our kids to know when to pull off and know what’s a block in the back because we’ve got an explosive player back there … I did hurt for Zac a little bit because, lord have mercy, he probably ran about 20 miles tonight but didn’t have a lot to show for it,” Cathcart said.
As for East Jackson, its best drive came in the second quarter when quarterback Hunter Hardwick hit Kolby Taylor for a 56-yard completion down to the Dragon 24. The drive, however, ended in a missed field goal.
Cathcart complemented both the players and coaches for East Jackson, which dropped its third-straight game.
“I have nothing but respect for coach (Scott) Wilkins and that staff,” said Cathcart said, who added that “the East Jackson kids played very hard and they have a lot to be commended for.”
It was a costly win, however, for Jefferson, which lost fullback-linebacker Kade McNally to what appeared to be a knee injury in the first quarter.
“My heart bleeds for him because what a great player and even better young man,” Cathcart said. “What an incredible year he’s having … I just hurt for him and his family.”
There was no official word on the severity of McNally’s injury.
Jefferson, which improved to 7-0 all-time against the Eagles with the victory, continues region play next Friday with a road game at Franklin County.
East Jackson faces another top-10 opponent next Friday, hosting third-ranked Monroe Area.

Jefferson got back on track with a non-region win to begin what could be a big week in region play for the first-place Dragons.
The team beat Flowery Branch 9-5 Monday at home to snap a two-game losing skid and improve to 17-5 on the year. Jefferson, 9-1 in 8-AAA play, was set to play region opponent Hart County on Tuesday, but results weren’t available at press time. The Dragons will host rival Jackson County Thursday (5:30 pm.) in a huge region tilt.
Monday’s out-of-region victory came after a pair of Saturday losses to non-region opponents Dodge County (11-5) and Evans (8-4).
“This past weekend wasn’t our best weekend, but I was really happy with the way our girls responded last night against a good Flowery Branch team,” coach Kacie Bostwick said. “We have seen quality pitching during the last three non-region games, so we’ve been able to get some good at-bats in and work on some things we’ve been talking about at practice. Alisyn Ferrell has stepped up for us and has thrown a couple good games.”
For the rest of this story, see the Sept. 19 edition of The Jackson Herald.

When asked to assess his team’s Friday’s opponent, East Jackson coach Scott Wilkins said eighth-ranked Jefferson might could pass for a team playing on Saturdays rather than Friday nights.
“They’re big, fast, strong, well-coached and very athletic,” Wilkins said. “I mean, geez and crackers, it looks like a college team.”
East Jackson and Jefferson will meet for the seventh time and for the first time since 2015 when the two intra-county teams play Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Jefferson’s Memorial Stadium.
While Wilkins sees the Dragons (3-1) as a team without a discernible weakness, his young Eagles have taken some lumps recently, losing their past two games by a combined score of 105-10. The Eagles were handed a 55-0 loss to Madison County last week during a lightning-interrupted game.
“We’re working hard,” Wilkins said. “The kids are trying hard. Unfortunately, we’re in a similar situation where we were last year. We’re playing a very young team on Friday nights that’s having to match up against older, more mature, more experienced opponents. This Friday night is to be no exception.”
Wilkins’ Eagles will face a Jefferson team that enters this game having routed Gainesville 42-10 last week for its third straight victory.
Dragon coach Gene Cathcart views his team as “a work in progress.” Preseason obstacles, such as not having all players available for spring practice and the cancelation of a scrimmage, put the team behind entering the season, according to Cathcart.
For the rest of this story, see the Sept. 19 edition of The Jackson Herald.

Jefferson’s schedule won’t include an area volleyball match this week, and coach Brittani Lawrence plans to put the time to good use.
“This week, we are thrilled to take a step away from region (area) opponents,” she said. “I think it will give us a chance to breathe and answer the No. 1 question, ‘What is our action plan to correct our mistakes?’”
Jefferson (13-9) opened the week with a match against Flowery Branch Tuesday (losing in three sets) and will return to the court against Union County and Walnut Grove at Walnut Grove Thursday with matches at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively.
The team lost in area play to Morgan County again Thursday in two sets before rebounding with a sweep of Monroe Area. Jefferson is 4-2 in area play and sits in third in the 8-AAA standings behind Morgan County and Jackson County, which are both unbeaten in area play.
“Morgan County put up a great fight, and we certainly fought with them throughout both sets,” Lawrence said. “However, we are looking forward to region (area) playoffs where we hope to match up with them again and result in a different outcome. After the tough loss against Morgan County, we had to quickly flip gears to face Monroe Area. During that match, we simply mixed it up and ran a faster-pace match.”
Jefferson entered this past Thursday’s action coming off a pair of wins last Tuesday. The Dragons beat Hart County in two sets in area play and non-area opponent Stephens County in non-area action.
“The players focused on eliminating mistakes and executing a diversified offense,” Lawrence said of the wins.
For the rest of this story, see the Sept. 19 edition of The Jackson Herald.

With the Dragons’ top runners taking an afternoon off, the Jefferson boys’ junior varsity team managed a third-place finish Thursday in a varsity race at Hart County.
Clay Hester finished eighth to lead the squad with a time of 19:44.48, followed by Cooper Gibson (14th, 20:26.75), Brandon Newman (21st, 21:01.70), Brody Woodall (24th, 21:08.47) and Nash Henning (28th, 21:46.63).
With 93 points, the team placed behind Hart County (26 points) and Jackson County (59 points) in the seven-team meet.
Jefferson’s girls, who also ran their junior varsity squad, took five out of six teams with 106 points. Kailani Restrepo paced the Dragons with a 15th-place finish (26:51.54). Rounding out the top five were Mia Hilley (17th, 27:05.06), Mary Graveman (26th, 28:24.73), Nancy Shafer (27th, 28:47.79) and Elaina Popa (28th, 28:52.25).

The rain stopped falling, but a downpour of big plays from Jefferson followed.
Coming out of a second-quarter, hour-long weather delay, the Dragons (3-1) posted 35 unanswered points to surge past Gainesville 42-10 Friday at home.
“I’m just very proud of our team,” Jefferson coach Gene Cathcart said. “I thought with the unusual circumstances of tonight, I thought they managed the rain delay and all the logistics of our deal here very well.”
With Jefferson trailing 10-7, Colby Clark scored on a 30-yard second-quarter run and later threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Zac Corbin, who wrestled the ball away from a Gainesville defender, to give Jefferson a 21-10 halftime lead and momentum that it would never relinquish.
“We could feel the momentum shifting our way big-time,” Corbin said, “and then just every play after that, every big play we got, just helped us.”
Garmon Randolph provided the defensive highlight of the second half, tipping a pass, picking it off and racing for a 25-yard touchdown in the third quarter to give Jefferson a 35-10 lead as the Dragons notched their third-straight win.
“We started out rocky in the first half,” Randolph said. “Then we came back out here, coach got us right in the locker room. So, we had to come out here and show what we do.”
Clark ran for 153 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries and was 3-of-6 passing for 70 yards and one touchdown. Kade McNally added 63 rushing yards on six carries.
The win moved Jefferson to 3-0 all-time against Gainesville.
Jefferson had its hands full with the traditional state power early on. A one-yard touchdown run from Quintavious Hayes gave the Red Elephants — seeking their first victory of the year — a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter.
Lightning brought the game to a halt in the second quarter at the 10:08 mark. Heavy rain soon followed. When play resumed, Jefferson’s deluge of points wasn’t immediate. The Dragons’ first two possessions after the delay ended in a turnover and punt.
“I didn’t think we came back out quite as focused as we should have been,” Cathcart said.
But a series of three big plays inside the final two minutes of the half turned the game.
The first came when Clark kept the ball on an option play and raced 30 yards for a score to put Jefferson ahead 14-10 with 1:16 left in the first half. Then Jefferson’s Hunter Blayton blocked a punt, setting up the Dragons at the Gainesville 32 with 22 seconds left in the half. The Dragons cashed in when Clark rolled left and threw the ball up in the end zone to Corbin. The pass ended up in a Gainesville’s defender’s hands but Corbin wrestled the ball away, coming down for an improbable 32-yard touchdown reception with just seven seconds left before halftime.
“Coach made a great call, Colby threw a really good ball and I got to make a play for them,” Corbin said.
Clark initially thought he’d thrown an interception before realizing that Corbin had wrangled the ball away.
“Next thing I know, our fans are cheering, the sideline is cheering,” he said. “I’m like ‘What is going on?’ But Zac, he’s just a great athlete — baseball, football, pretty much anything.”
Jefferson then dominated the second half in securing its third win this season by 24 points or more. Clark found the end zone on a one-yard run on the first drive of the third quarter. Randolph’s pick six followed on Gainesville’s ensuing possession as the 6-foot-6 defensive end/outside linebacker — wearing a cast on his right hand — used his long reach to tip a Walter Dixon pass, haul it in and take it back the other way. The defensive score was a first for the senior.
“It was nice,” Randolph said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever gotten a pick six in all of the football I’ve played.”
With Jefferson’s subs in late, Kolton Jones provided the final points of the night, scoring from 20 yards out on a shifty run with five minutes left in the game.
The Dragon’s defense, which allowed Gainesville’s lone touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, shut out the Red Elephants over the last 35:56 of the game.
“Defensively, we’ve played well all year,” Cathcart said. “We’re playing a lot of people, and that helps, too. I was really proud of the job that we did really not giving up explosive plays to them, or not too many of them, and making them drive the football.”
The defense produced a big stand early, too. Gainesville took over at the Dragon 10 after recovering a first-quarter fumble, but Jefferson forced the Red Elephants to settle for a 22-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead. Jefferson answered with a seven-play 63-yard scoring drive, capped by a three-yard touchdown from Clark to take a 7-3 lead with 4:05 left in the first quarter. But Gainesville answered with an 11-play march, ending with Hayes’ one-yard touchdown. It would be the Red Elephants’ last points of the night, however.
Corbin, one of 17 seniors on the Dragon roster, expressed confidence for the rest of the season after Friday’s win.
“I think we’re going to be really good,” he said. “If we just play, do what our coaches tell us, and just play hard, we’ll be good.”
Jefferson opens region play against East Jackson (1-3) Friday at home.
NOTES: Jefferson’s Kory Potts Players of the Week were Zac Corbin and Mason Ware, offense; Cole Potts, defense; Hunter Blayton and Kolton Jones, special teams; and Dylan Ryoul, scout team.

Jefferson seeks third straight win against opponent hungry for victory

A proud Gainesville program hasn’t won a game this season, and the Jefferson football team hopes to deny the Red Elephants a victory celebration for at least another week.
The Dragons (2-1) seek their third-straight win on the season as they host Gainesville Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Red Elephants have gotten off to an uncharacteristic 0-3 start. Gainesville hasn’t started 0-4 since 1964.
“They’re extremely athletic,” Jefferson coach Gene Cathcart said. “They have very talented athletes at almost every position. They’re certainly looking for something significant to jump start their season. We know they’ll be awfully fired up to come into our place.”
The Red Elephants are under the direction of new head coach Heath Webb, who succeeded longtime coach Bruce Miller.
Webb is looking to restore Gainesville to its past glory after 5-6 and 4-7 seasons the past two years.
After a blowout loss to Mary Persons 42-0 in his debut, Webb’s Red Elephants lost close games to North Forsyth (24-21) and Lambert (16-15) before an off week last week.
“Without question, Heath (Webb) and those guys are doing a great job,” Cathcart said. “They’ve lost two very, very close games, and then kind of got beat up on by Mary Persons, which there’s no shame in that as we can tell you.” (Jefferson lost to Mary Persons in the playoffs last year.)
For the rest of this story, see the Sept. 12 edition of The Jackson Herald.

The Jefferson softball team is back atop the region standings and hopes to stay there this time.
After suffering a 3-2 loss to Jackson County Aug. 28, the Dragons have run their winning streak to six games. That string of victories includes two region wins last week as Jefferson took over sole possession of first place in the Region 8-AAA standings.
The team is now 15-3 on the year. At 8-1 in 8-AAA play, the Dragons have a game-and-a-half lead over Jackson County, which is 6-2 in the region.
“It’s nice to be in first place in the region, but our goal is to win the region tournament,” Jefferson coach Kacie Bostwick said. “Obviously, being the No. 1 seed going into the region tournament is ideal, but the vision we have for ourselves is to come away with a region championship. We still have work to do during the regular season.”
The Dragons earned their most recent win Monday with a 5-1 win over Winder-Barrow behind a three-hitter from senior pitcher Emily Perrin.
Jefferson will return to region play Thursday at 6 p.m. at last-place Monroe Area (3-15, 0-7). It will follow that game with non-region contests Saturday against Dodge County (9 a.m.) and Evans (11 a.m.) in the Ram Classic at Parkview. The Dragons face another non-region opponent, Flowery Branch, Monday on the road at 5:55 p.m. Region play resumes Tuesday at Hart County at 5:55 pm.
For the rest of this story, see the Sept. 12 edition of The Jackson Herald.

The Jefferson softball team is back atop the region standings and hopes to stay there this time.
After suffering a 3-2 loss to Jackson County Aug. 28, the Dragons have run their winning streak to six games. That string of victories includes two region wins last week as Jefferson took over sole possession of first place in the Region 8-AAA standings.
The team is now 15-3 on the year. At 8-1 in 8-AAA play, the Dragons have a game-and-a-half lead over Jackson County, which is 6-2 in the region.
“It’s nice to be in first place in the region, but our goal is to win the region tournament,” Jefferson coach Kacie Bostwick said. “Obviously, being the No. 1 seed going into the region tournament is ideal, but the vision we have for ourselves is to come away with a region championship. We still have work to do during the regular season.”
The Dragons earned their most recent win Monday with a 5-1 win over Winder-Barrow behind a three-hitter from senior pitcher Emily Perrin.
Jefferson will return to region play Thursday at 6 p.m. at last-place Monroe Area (3-15, 0-7). It will follow that game with non-region contests Saturday against Dodge County (9 a.m.) and Evans (11 a.m.) in the Ram Classic at Parkview. The Dragons face another non-region opponent, Flowery Branch, Monday on the road at 5:55 p.m. Region play resumes Tuesday at Hart County at 5:55 pm.
For the rest of this story, see the Sept. 12 edition of The Jackson Herald.

After a college soccer career that included three surgeries was over, Stephanie Lamm figured that was as good a time as any to hang up the cleats for good.
That notion didn’t last long. All it took was seeing players preparing during summer workouts to lure the former Jefferson player out of her brief retirement.
“I was just like, “Oh, man, if I could just play one more time,’” said Lamm, who played at Jefferson from 2011-2014.
That wish has become a reality as the 23-year-old has made the roster of the first-ever women’s team for the Georgia Revolution, a minor league soccer organization based out of McDonough. The team played its inaugural game this past Sunday, losing 10-0 to FFC Georgia. Lamm took three shots on goal and played 90 minutes.
For the rest of this story, see the Sept. 12 edition of The Jackson Herald.